Honoring Ayrton Senna
There's a mini series on Netflix titled simply "Senna" about the life of legendary Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna, and I've been rewatching it.
If you're on a website called "Absolute Zero Motorsport" you're likely already a motorsport fan and probably already familiar with Ayrton Senna. Though he only has three F1 championships to his name, this doesn't reflect the raw talent he had, and "better" drivers typically still point to Senna as being the best. He spent some years in underdog teams as well as politics having cheated him out of wins, and effectively at least one championship. His life was tragically cut short on May 1, 1994, so it's hard to say how many more championships he might have won.
He had so many impressive moments that left fans' jaws on the floor. There was for example his "Lap of the Gods" at Donington Park in 1993 in heavy rain he started in P4 and dropped to P5, only to overtake Karl Wendlinger, Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, and Alain Prost in a single lap, and went on to not only dominate the wet race but to set a lap record while doing so; a record never beaten. While qualifying for Monaco in 1988, he beat his own teammate, champion Alain Prost, by 1.4 seconds. During that race, Senna was so far out in front that he had lapped the entire field except for his teammate, Alain Prost, and was closing in on him to do so, roughly a minute ahead and extending that lead, despite repeated calls from McLaren to back off, until he got distracted and wrecked. At the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, in torrential rain, while driving a Lotus that was okay but not a championship contender, Senna finished a minute ahead of the rest of the field. Back at the start of his F1 career when driving for underdog Toleman, at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix in heavy rain, Senna overtook everybody but Prost in first place, but was steadily gaining on him, when politics came into play and the race was stopped to protect Prost's first place position.
Ayrton Senna wasn't just a legend on the track, however, but also off of it. He had a passion for Brazil and the Brazilian people, who were largely impoverished. While others might have been ashamed of their Brazilian heritage, Senna kept a Brazilian flag to proudly display when he won, sharing his victory with the Brazilian people and giving them something to be proud of. What people didn't know was that he quietly donated millions of his own money to help the Brazilian people. Normally a celebrity would donate a million dollars and then pat themselves on the back in front of every camera and microphone that would point at them, but Senna silently donated a fortune without seeking any attention or praise for it. He wanted to create a proper institution to handle everything but unfortunately passed before his goal was achieved. His family finished his mission for him, creating the Ayrton Senna Institute.
Senna's passing during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was devastating for Brazil. Not only did they lose their champion, who brought them so much pride and joy that they desperately needed, but they lost a savior that gave so much to the people. His funeral was attended by 3,000,000 people. Brazil declared three days of national mourning.
Watching the Senna series on Netflix, it saddens me to see Ayrton's memory so disrespected by his own family. You see, the series plays up the role of Xuxa and trivializes Adriane Galisteu. Ayrton's relationship with Xuxa did last at least from 1988 to 1990, with some reports that there was something even into 1992 or 1993. However, at the end of his life in 1994 he was with Adriane Galisteu, and she had moved in with him.
My understanding is that the Senna series was guided by his family, and his family loved Xuxa and hated Adriane Galisteu. "Senna" was his mother's maiden name, with his father's surname being "Silva", and the Silva family was wealthy. They favored Xuxa, the biggest celebrity in Brazilian television at the time, because a union between Ayrton and Xuxa would continue their place in upper society. Adriane, on the other hand, was more humble from a working class family. The Silva family treated her like she was simply opportunistic, interested in Senna's money and fame, and threatening their high society status.
It pains me to watch Xuxa prominently depicted in the Senna series with Adriane being relegated to a couple minutes because his family wanted to rewrite his story. I feel Ayrton would have wanted it kept honest, told as it really was and not how someone else wanted it to be. I feel like he would be upset to see Adriane treated so poorly and his family trying to erase her altogether. The only reason she made it into the series at all was Netflix insisted upon her being in there. I feel it's disgusting to look down on Adriane for being from more humble origins because Ayrton had such a love for all the Brazilian people, so much empathy for the underprivileged and poor, and done so much to lift up and help the needy. He clearly wasn't bothered by her not coming from money. I feel his family has dishonored and disrespected his memory.
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